Tubular fabric.



H. 2.001313. TUBULAR FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED APILB, 191 2.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

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25 the bobbins which'braid the so inter 45; to. its inner sides,

HENRY Z. COBB, WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

TUBULAR FABRIC.

Specification 01! Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

Original application filed. October 18, 1911, Serial NO,- 655353.Divided and this application filed April 8,

1912. Serial No. 889,282. i

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IIENRYZ. Conn, a citizen of the United States,residing in Wmchester, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tubular Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

'This invention relates to the production it of braided fabrics, andparticularly tubular fabrics adaptable for use as hose.

In the making of two-ply or multiple-ply braided fabrics, it isdesirable to unite the braided webs by some textile connection otherthan that afiorded by the webs themselves, in order that each web may bedistinct.

means of a supplemental series of bobbins which ina braiding machinepass alter-- nately between the raceways traversed by respective webs.The product of that invention is a tubular fabric of two (or more)plies, each ply con-. stituting a distinct braided web, and these beinintimately united by strands or yarns laraided with each, and passingalter-. nately from each into the other, these inter-. braiding orconnecting yarns traversing the tubular fabric completely so as toconstitute a series of helices; and being preferably extended inrightand left spirals so as to cross and interbraid with each other.

My present invention produces a fabric in which the interconnectingyarns or strands instead of progressing helically around the 4o tubularfabric," are extended longitudinally thereof and" are interwoven withthe braided yarns. The product is therefore somewhat similar to whatmight be produced by sewing single threads throughit from its outer Isuch threads forming parallel lines of stitching uniting the outer and"inner'webs at sufliciently frequent inter- I L valfsi The inventionfindsits. greatest utility :in the case of two-ply'or multiple-ply hose;

? but it a plicable' to a single-plyhose, in

which .the 'ongitudmal. strands-on webs' have the effect notonly ofstrengthe nng the fabric but of partially In my Patent No. 937,021granted. October 12', 1909, I have set forth a means for unitingdistinct parallel braided webs- 20 .by interlacing with them unitingstrands.

resisting a: longitudinal pull thereon, and consequently rendering itless liable to braided hose.

In practising my invention I may employ an ordlnary braiding machine,preferably one capable of simultaneously braiding two or more webs, andI combine with this machine a means for introducing the desired numberof longitudinal warp yarns into the braided fabric, such meansconsisting preferably of shuttles with suitable mechanism for throwingthem' in proper succession through the shed of converging yarns from thebraider bobbins. The braided fabric being delivered longitudinallywithout rotary or twisting motion, and the shuttles being each confinedto its own path, these paths being fixed or non-rotative, it followsthat the yarns paid off from these'shuttles and interwoven with thebraided yarns, constitute true warps, since they extend longitudinallyof the fabric, as distinguished from those which progress spirally orhelically around the tubular fabric, as in the case of my previouspatent.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a vertical mid-section of anordinary type of multiple-ply braiding machine equipped stretch than. isan ordinary with mechanism for producing this improved fabric; Fig. 2 isa partial horizontal section showing the relative arrangement of thebobbin raceways and the warp shuttles of such machine; Figs. 3 and 4 arerespectlvely an elevation and a longitudinal section of the improvedfabric.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the core on which the braidingis done, and BB the bobbins which arecarried by carriers C C D D (Fig.2) in a well known manner. The race-ways are cut in the usual plate Fbeneath which is the usual plate G, and between these plates are theusual gears (not shown) which drive the bobbin carriers, all thesepartsbeing well understood in braiding machines.

The yarns a a'whichare drawn off from the bobbin carriers, converge atthe braiding point 6 where they are drawn together upon the core A toform the braided fabric A.

.A; take-up is provided for moving the finished as it is produced,whereby to keepthe braidfabric up out of the machine as fast whichtraverse sinuous race-ways ing point b at the same place. The convergingyarns a a constitute a shed which is in the form of an obtuse cone. Inthe case of a two-ply fabric this shed is in fact double, the yarnsforming one ply interlacing and drawing together distinctly from thosewhich form the other ply or we As many shuttles are provided as thenumber of warps to be introduced into the fabric. Six for example areshown in Fig. 2. Each of the shuttles L is carried on a slide or othersuitable carrier M, and this in turn is adapted for engagement with theshuttle guides or race-ways P P. These latterare arranged partly aboveand partly below the shed of converging yarns a, or in other words aremade in-two alined sections separated by a suflicient space to enablethe converging yarns of the shed to pass freely between them. This spaceor gap is bridged by the shuttle slide or carrier M in moving across thegap. Each shuttle is moved at prescribed intervals from one side to theother of the shed, their respective positions being shown in Fig. 1 infull lines and in dotted lines. Thus the warp yarn c which is paid offfrom the shuttle is moved alter- 'nately above and beneath the shed, sothat it passes back and forth from the outside to the inside of thefinished product. The shuttle is pointed at both ends so as to readilyseparate the braiding yarns a a. in pass- -ing through the shed.

The shuttles may be driven across the shed at the prescribed intervalseither by hand or by any one of a variety of shuttle throwingmechanisms. The requisite of such mechanisms is that they shall movetheir respective shuttles quickly enoughso that the passage of theshuttle through the shed shall not interfere .with the desirably freemovement-of the converging braiding yarns. It is also desirable that theshuttle throwing mechanism shall move the shuttles in a prescribedsuccession and at prescribed intervals of time, in order to pass 'thewarps through the fabric with the desired frequency and in the desiredrelation. .As this is partly a matter of taste or caprice accord mg tothe appearance desired to be pro duced, no specific proportioning isessential to the invention.

I have not herein shown any mechanism for moving the shuttles, asmechanism for this purpose forms no part of the subject matter of thepresent application for patent. Such mechanism is shown in myapplication No. 655,352 filed October 18, 1911, to

which reference may be made for an understanding of the suitable anddesirable form of mechanism for practising this invention. The presentapplication is a division of the application just named.

The fabric which is produced is shown in elevation in Fig. 3, and inapproximate vertical section in Fig. 4. In these figures a are thebraided yarns and c are the longitudinal warp yarns which are laid in bythe shuttles, the latter being shown as of darker color to moreeffectually distinguish them. In Fig. 4 the two braided plies or websare distinguished by the layers to and o. The inner layer as is theusual rubber tube which forms the lining of the hose. This tube mayitself constitute the core A in Fig. 1, or this core may be any suitablemandrel.

It will be observed that the warp yarns 0 by being repeatedly passedbetween the inner and outer surfaces of the fabric, not only serve tostrongly unite the outer and inner Webs or plies, but also serve toimpart added longitudinal strength to the fabric by resisting astretching strain. This resistance they afford however with a certaindegree of elasticity due to the zigzag path which they make in passingthrough the plies. The use of these longitudinal warps is also ofadvantage in a one-ply braided fabric, which is strengthened and ,mademore resistant against stretching strains by the presence of thesewarps.

The hose provided by my invention is to be distinguished from those inwhich longitudinal yarns have been carried within the loops of a singlebraided web, so that these yarns extend in a straight line through theweb instead of being carried in a zigzag path back and forth between theinner and outer sides thereof. This zigzag course of the Warp yarns isan important feature of my invention, since it imparts the desirableelasticity or longitudinallyyielding quality to the hose. Where straightyarns would be liable to break upon the outer side when bending the hoseand would necessarily pucker upon the inner side of the bend, the zigzagwarps provided by the present invention accommodate themselves readilyto such bending. The hose consequently is not only more supple, but whatis ractically of great importance, is far less liable to kink when bent.Upon bending a braided hose the braided web is drawn tightly upon theouter side of the bend, the thickness being reduced by the tauteningefiect upon the yarns, while upon the inner side it is slackened and thefabric is thickened; the warp yarns provided by my invention readilyadapt themselves to both these effects, since upon the outer side thehalf loops formed by the zigzags flex readily with the braided yarns,and by the reduction in thickness of the braided webs the warps areslackenedand enabled to readily yield to the greater longitudinaldimension required upon the outer side of the hose; while upon the inneror thickened side the diminution in longitudinal dimension providessufficient slack for the warps to enable them to yield to the thickeningof the braided web or webs. The hose therefore is as flexible and asfree from kinking tendency as an ordinary braided hose, While havinggreater strength in longitudinal direction.

I claim as my invention 1. A tubular fabric consisting of outer andinner braided Webs and parallel longitudinal warp yarns intermeshed withand uniting the webs.

2. A multiple tubular fabric consisting of parallel inner and outerbraided Webs, and Iparallel longitudinal warp yarns passing ack andforth through the fabric and uniting said webs.

3. A multiple tubular fabric consisting of outer and inner braided Websand parallel 15 longitudinal Warp yarns passing back and forth throughboth webs and appearing on the exterior and interior surfaces of thefabric. y

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed 20 my name in the presence oftwo subscribing Witnesses.

HENRY Z. COBB. Witnesses:

THOMAS F. WALLACE, FRED WHITE.

